I miss my boy
by Rey Bee
Summary: Uchiha Fugaku: an uncaring, sadistic father? Well no, not really. In fact, not at all. He just made some mistakes while raising his boy. So he enjoys those little moments when Itachi puts his guard down. One-shot! Update: an additional chapter about Fugaku and Sasuke!
1. Itachi

**Summary** : Uchiha Fugaku: an uncaring, sadistic father? Well no, not really. In fact, not at all. He just made some mistakes while raising up his boy. So he enjoys those little moment when Itachi puts his guard down.

A quiet sound makes him wake up and analyze his surroundings. The room is dark and silent, the rain drops are hitting the windowsill making a lot of noise. But it's not the rain what woke him up.

He focuses some chakra in his ears and eventually catches a sound of foot pats in the corridor. The steps are almost inaudible, as expected from an ANBU agent.

He considers two options he has: whether to stay in bed and pretend not having heard anything, or to get up and greet the newcomer, who is now heading to the kitchen. Finally he raises from the mattress and follows the corridor with quiet steps.

There is a little lamp lighted up when he enters the kitchen. It gives enough light for a man not to make a mess around while looking for something to drink or eat. A boy, twelve years old, dark-haired and visibly tired, stays in front of the fridge with his back turned towards him.

"Gomen, tou-san. I didn't mean to wake you up" the boy almost whispers, sending an apologetic look over his shoulder.

"How was your mission?" Fugaku ignores the apology, because there is nothing to be sorry about.

"Accomplished" Itachi closes the fridge and leans against its door, holding a pot with the dinner leftovers from this evening. He doesn't bother to look for sticks, he simply uses a big wooden spoon found in the dryer. "Do you want me to give you a full report now?" he asks after a while, when he doesn't get any answer.

"It's three in the morning, I'm sure it can wait" Fugaku shrugs dismissively, watching his heir who's consuming a late meal in a very uncivil manner. He considers telling him off for it, but dismisses the idea, as he would probably do the same in such a case. "When was the last time you slept?" he asks.

"More than forty eight hours ago, I think" the boy answers with his mouth full. "I'm going to bed just after I eat something."

Fugaku doesn't have to ask, he knows that there have been at least two days from the last time his son got some rest. He is his father after all and he knows Itachi well enough to be sure that the boy wouldn't act this casually if he wasn't exhausted. It's long past the time when Itachi could afford to be casual in front of him. Fugaku made sure his son would act properly in front of anybody… and now he has to deal with the consequences, whether he likes it or not, because his direct, smiling Itachi is gone. Forever.

That's why he loves to greet him after exhausting missions. Itachi puts his guard down and doesn't bother himself too much with formalities.

"Do you know when your next mission starts?" he ask his early-adult son. Well, Itachi isn't adult in his opinion, because he observes him at home in everyday situations, but everybody claims he is.

"In two days" he says blankly. "Will last three, as far as I remember."

Itachi doesn't like ANBU missions. Fugaku knows it, even if his son has never told him this, but he is his father and he can tell when something troubles his boy. There was a time a year ago when it was fine with Itachi, when he has just joined the organization and didn't care that much about S-ranks' nature, but now it starts to disturb him quite a lot. But the boy says nothing because he knows his clan needs him. He knows that he is simply a tool in the Uchiha elders' hands and that he can't quit. He accepts that and doesn't ask any questions. A perfect heir, indeed.

In those moments Fugaku wishes that there was no clan to lead or politics to care about. He wants his son to be happy and carefree, because that's how twelve years old Konoha boys are like, now in the time of peace. But Itachi's innocence is long gone now and Fugaku knows he took a big part in taking it away from his son.

"Make sure to spend some time with your little brother" he says eventually, observing him calmly. "Your mother said that he pouted about your constant absence."

"Like always" Itachi mumbles and continues eating. "How is his training going?"

"Mikoto says his shuriken jutsu improves everyday" he informs in a careful tone. He doesn't train Sasuke himself, as he has enough duties anyway. He's happy to entrust the boy to his wife, a former jounin, an ex-ANBU. He's sure she will do it better than he would. After all she doesn't want her second son to be a soldier-like formal child. Fugaku failed once with Itachi and won't take the unnecessary risk this time. Sasuke may not be as fearfully talented as Itachi was, but he's skilled enough for them to worry about his future.

"He's good at it" Itachi agrees. "But you didn't see him yourself, did you?"

Itachi must be awfully tired if he's talking to him in such a manner.

"I didn't" he admits, waiting for the boy's next words.

But they don't come and Itachi puts the empty pot in the sink and opens the fridge again. He searches though the shelfs for a moment and closes the door again, directing himself to a nearby cupboard. After five seconds he takes out a pack of chocolates and starts to eat them one by one.

"Itachi, are you sure chocolate is something you should eat in the middle of the night?" Fugaku smiles slightly.

"It's filling" he shrugs and put another one in his mouth.

"You will struggle with falling asleep."

"I won't" he opposes, a pouting tone in his voice. Fugaku smirks a bit.

"If you say so" he says a little daringly. And he's satisfied for the first time this night, because he sees a little smile on his son's lips. "Your fondness of sweets is only second to your mother's" he states with a sigh. "She bought ten dango sticks just two days ago and ate them all in one hour."

"She's never let me eat this much at once" Itachi makes a face and Fugaku laughs shortly, because he just can't help the amusement at the moment. He watches in fond silence his son putting another three chocolate pieces in his mouth and thinks that Sasuke would've already vomited twice if he had eaten this much.

"I'm going to bed" Itachi tries to hide a yawn, as he approaches the door. "Could you please tell kaa-san not to wake me up until noon?"

"I'll tell her" he mutters, nodding. "I will be home around four tomorrow and I expect you to give me a full mission report then."

"You mean today" the boy smirks slightly locking his own gaze with his. Fugaku raises an eyebrow but says nothing for this little joke, because it's been a while since Itachi made any joke in his presence. And it warms his heart, it really does.

So he squeezes his shoulder tightly, tugs his ponytail a little and observes him disappearing around the corner.

Fugaku hopes that in a couple of days Itachi will return home as exhausted as tonight, because he misses such careless moments with his son awfully.

 **A/N: I hope you liked this little piece of art:) I don't like how people consider Uchiha Fugaku to be a sadistic, uncaring father, I want to believe that he loved his boys. I'm curious what you think about it;)**


	2. Sasuke

**A/N: I got a little request from yara9292…:) so here is an extra chapter about Fugaku and Sasuke. Enjoy!**

The tiredness is just too overwhelming… Who would have known that there would be SO much work at the police station. For him to need forty eight hours to finally come back from work… It hasn't happened for years now. The times when he couldn't manage his time properly, like a civilized man he is, were long gone. Or they should have been at least.

He kicks off his shoes and, with a deep sigh and falling eyelids, he heads to the kitchen. He hasn't eaten for a while. He didn't have time for it. Not with all those noisy and rash cousins, uncles and nephews of his. Not at the police station and certainly not on a sudden clan meeting. What a mess…

He opens the fridge, takes the first thing he sees and starts to eat it slowly. He doesn't care what it is, really. It's a little sweet, but sour on the other hand… Or whatever. He's too exhausted to think.

But he is conscious enough to register quiet steps on the corridor. After a couple of seconds he throws a look over his shoulder and sees nobody else than a seven years old boy, who's eyeing him distractedly. The child stops abruptly in a mid-step, when he gets to understand who he's seeing right now.

"Tou-san" he mumbles quietly. They share a long look while staying put and motionless, letting themselves observe each other for a long moment.

"Sasuke" Fugaku acknowledges finally.

"Okaeri…"

"Why aren't you sleeping right now? It's the middle of the night" he catches himself on saying these words too sharply, when he notices Sasuke biting his lower lip. He regrets it instantly.

"I'm thirsty" the child whispers, looking down on his feet. Exactly, that's what Fugaku always do: he intimidates this innocent child with his every word, even in such a ridiculous situation. Sasuke is thirsty. He just wants to drink some water and still Fugaku manages to startle him.

He should apologize to him. But he doesn't, because he never does.

"Come" he is careful this time, wishing to avoid any other little outburst. He opens a closet, takes out a glass and pours some water into it. Then he waits for the boy to come near him (what he does very slowly) and hands him the tool. "Here, drink".

"Arigato" Sasuke mumbles avoiding his eyes and focuses himself on the glass. Meanwhile Fugaku tries to figure out what to do next. Because… he isn't willing to send the boy to bed with an impression that he did something wrong. It's not his fault that the Uchiha clansmen are idiots, who regularly put their leader on the edge with their ridiculous ideas. Fugaku is angry at THEM. Not at Sasuke, even if he walks in the corridor at night. Why was he even bothered by it on the first place…?

Sasuke moves, goes around him and stands on his toes to put the empty glass in the sink.

"You want some more?" Fugaku asks quietly. That makes the boy stop on his tracks and eye him carefully.

"Yes, please" he says finally and lets him refill the glass.

"It's enough to ask, if you want something" Fugaku states as gently as he can and hopes it would be enough. He gets a quiet hum from the boy in return. This time he doesn't say anything to him, when the glass is put in the sink.

"Oyasumi, tou-san" he hears from behind.

"Mhm" he offers back, sparing a single glance at the boy. He watches him leaving the kitchen in some sort of meditation.

No, no… He certainly did something wrong here. Sasuke was supposed to look at him and smile slightly while wishing him a good night. He was supposed to rub against his side, looking for some warmth from his father, who never gives him enough of it. Not just… get out and go back to his room.

In fact, Sasuke has been acting a little bit strange lately. Fugaku remembers how, a couple of months ago, the boy was cheerful and smiling all day long. He acted… like a child should act, noisy, sometimes clumsy, ignoring the strict rules Fugaku established to teach his sons a proper behavior. And now something is off. Sasuke speaks loudly very rarely, he never runs inside the house, he stopped pouting when something didn't seem fine to him… Well, not that Fugaku would complain about him getting polite, but…

All right, so he WOULD complain about it.

He misses the time, when Sasuke would run to him the moment he hears his father comes back home. Fugaku would always tell him off, when he suddenly jumped from behind the corner and, almost falling down, ran to him and catched him by his hand, ignoring his displeasure, talking about his new achievements until the very moment Fugaku managed to silence him with his stern look. Sasuke would then apologize and greet him properly and after that they would both go to the kitchen, where Mikoto would wait for him with a cup of tea. He would drink it slowly, finally enjoying the boy's babble and his wife's amused smiles.

It didn't happened in months. He feels uneasy, when he realizes how much time has passed since the last time Sasuke threw himself on him to hug him spontaneously. Not only that, but it's been a while since the last time they talked at all. It isn't a secret he doesn't give Sasuke enough attention, much less that he was giving a seven years old Itachi. On the other hand, he is well aware that he himself killed a child inside his eldest son and he wants, from all his heart, to avoid it in Sasuke's case. But it seems Sasuke loses his childish habits anyway, even if he shouldn't just yet… why?

He processes all these nasty thoughts, drinking water from Sasuke's glass. He puts it back to the sink and taps the wooden closets with his fingers. How is it possible that he was too busy to give Sasuke one little thought? What was he doing? Well, a lot, obviously…

He shakes his head tiredly and dismisses the topic. It's half past three in the morning and all his body wants is his warm, comfortable side of bed, just next to his beloved wife. So he goes straight to the bathroom to take a quick shower and put the pajamas on.

It's just when he is again on the corridor that he hears a loud sound of raindrops from outside the house. Mumbling something under his breath, he enters Itachi's empty room and closes an open window. His gaze passes through he neat surrounding, when he leaves and heads this time to the next room. He slips in carefully only to see Sasuke, who tries to close a window placed far too high for him. He smirks a little and, without any word, comes to help him. The boy tenses at first, when he suddenly appears behind him with no warning.

"Arigato, tou-san" he murmurs, wiping his wet hands in his pants.

"You're welcome".

His hand finds its way to Sasuke's hair and ruffles it affectionately. He didn't think long about it, he realizes, and he lets this little moment of spontaneity last for a little bit longer. Just then Sasuke finally relaxes and leans against him, cuddling to his side like he hasn't been for all those past months. A little smile appears on Fugaku's lips, when he sees this sweet child hugging him with no restraints.

His child.

And when he cuddles him to sleep a couple of minutes later, he can't help but wonder if something like this would ever happen again. Because some nasty voice in his head keeps nagging him that the next morning everything will be back to its new unpleasant routine. So he watches Sasuke falling asleep and caresses his head until his breath finally evens for good this time.

Just before he leaves Sasuke's room, he puts Roarie next to his head. The green dinosaur would guard his boy for him. He is sure about it.


End file.
